


Read Error

by Lex_Munro



Series: Stories From the Fateverse [7]
Category: Avengers (Comic), Cable and Deadpool
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sci-fi, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Brief Language, Gen, Genderswap, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-05
Updated: 2010-08-05
Packaged: 2017-10-22 16:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/240174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lex_Munro/pseuds/Lex_Munro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the Network Core, Data Analyst 109 asks the right questions, and the Database Administrator replies with troubling data.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Read Error

**Author's Note:**

> set immediately before [Sysadmin](http://archiveofourown.org/works/240121/chapters/369145) and [The Auditor](http://archiveofourown.org/works/238816/chapters/368026).
> 
>  **warnings:**   AU - Fateverse.  sci-fi.  technobabble.  a little Rule 63 for flavor.  rampant bad 616 references.  hints of het.  hints of femslash.  language: pg-13 (primetime tv plus s***).
> 
>  **pairing:**   passing Nat/Wade, reference to Nate/Wade, implied Nat/Dom, hints of Clint/Bobbi, Luke/Jessica, and Steph/Tony.
> 
>  **timeline:**   just after Logan and Wade leave the database in [The (Wo)Man Behind the Curtain](http://archiveofourown.org/works/238816/chapters/367535).
> 
>  **disclaimer:**   i doesn't owns the movies or the characters. or the assorted objects of pop culture reference.
> 
>  **notes:**   1) i thought i was pretty unsubtle, but if you're confused about Stephanie...Data Analyst 043 (Stephanie Rogers) is a female AU counterpart of Steve.  the details of her job and her 'scandalous demotion' show up in **Sysadmin**.  2) in case you couldn't figure it out for yourself, Data Analyst 109 (Natalie Summers) is a female AU counterpart of Nate.  she's a lot younger and a little more laid-back (not growing up in the middle of an ongoing war will do that).  3) as far as the simulator station goes, picture a nice computer chair in a small, dark room with a desk-like console coming out of the wall.  to interact with the computer system, you put on some nifty glasses that have bluetooth built in and stick your hands out over the desk.  the funky glasses let you see and hear the computer interface.  if that doesn't work for you, picture Tony Stark's awesome 3d work station in miniature.
> 
> visit [The Fateverse Glossary](http://merianmoriarty.deviantart.com/art/Fateverse-Glossary-174203180) for terms, concepts, Nodes, and important people.

**Read Error**

 

Analyst 109 enjoys her work.  She finds it deeply fulfilling.

Her job is to monitor a segment of the timestream for any stability issues.  If she spots one, she files the appropriate report, the Core tracks the causes and effects, and she is either finished with the issue or charged with resolving it (at which point she files more reports and makes some calls to coordinate the efforts of Network Agents or, in extreme cases, Keepers).

From what she understands, her enjoyment of such busybody, hands-on world saving is a common thread among her counterparts in the multiverse.  Stephanie (Analyst 043) tells her that it is a trait much better suited to a woman, apparently, since the vast majority of those counterparts are male and extremely high-entropy.

She respects Stephanie’s opinion, because Stephanie monitors some of the most crucial primary bundles—Stephanie is one of the best and most diligent Analysts the Network has, in spite of a scandalous demotion a few years back (and most of Stephanie’s counterparts, even the men, are high-resonance).

For her part, Analyst 109 only has one primary bundle under her care at the moment, and most of its stability issues were taken care of by the Auditor ages ago.  She misses working with him; he was funny, and he was sweet in a slightly twisted way, but she has made a personal rule against inter-timeline romance.  Just as well, since he ended up marrying her counterpart from his timeline.

Today, she stares at the monitoring simulation as it spins slowly.  Filaments of light swirl and eddy in darkness, their edges constantly melding and splitting and coiling together.  Parts grow and shrink and tangle like the tendrils of some enormous jellyfish.

She watches the tiny branches flicker and twist and flow back into the larger ones; one or two occasionally whip out to a different bundle before whipping back or melting away.  All of this is ‘normal.’  All of this is a symptom of semi-infinite possibilities sliding apart and merging together as different paths lead to the same ends because of common denominators and sympathetic resonance.  On such a small scale, none of it is cause for worry.

Once or twice, she thinks she sees a ripple, but she dismisses it as eyestrain—after all, it is nearing the end of her last shift of the week, and she often forgets to blink the recommended number of times.

Again, she thinks she spots a ripple.

Everything seems to be in order, but she goes ahead and flags the rippled branches for tracing (it is a simple enough matter to pinch each thin stream of light with one hand while she motions through the trace request form with the other).

_~Branch trace approved, Analyst 109.~_

The simulation expands in places, following each flagged branch through the adjacent monitoring segment and scrolling to show the expansion.

“Mark known agents,” she says.

Three tiny threads light up, two green and one blue.  The green ones are just high-resonance subjects.  The blue is a Keeper.

She reaches a hand out and motions to expand the agent information.

Keeper 113.  Node 082.

“Ident.”

The simulation flashes red.

She frowns, closing and opening her hand to collapse and expand the agent information again.  “Ident,” she repeats.

Another red flash.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake…”  She flags the entry as corrupted data (a motion like crumpling a used tissue) and files a dataread request.

_~Dataread from Core Tower approved, Analyst 109.~_

With a sweep of white light, the simulation rescans.  She expands the agent information on the Keeper again.

“Ident.”

A third red flash.

She growls with frustration and gives the simulated file a futile shake.

“Jeez, what’s got your panties in a twist?”

She does not bother to ask why Clint (Analyst 315) is incapable of waiting for her shift to end before showing up to pester her about social gatherings.  This time when she flags the entry as corrupted, she goes to the trouble of filing a request for the entry from the Database itself.

_~Dataread from Central Database approved, Analyst 109.~_

“So Bobbi ‘n Jan ‘n the girls were wondering if you’d be good for some drinks later.  I mean, now that Dom’s out of that funk she was in, we could totally hook you up.  She said she’s back in the dating game, after all, and—hello?  _Hellooooo_?  Network Core to Natalie Summers-Dayspring-Etcetera, you there?”

“Not now, Clint.  Ident.”

The entire sim goes red, but a dataread given by the DBA is always thorough and accurate.  So when the read-error finishes processing, its source is drawn up in plain view.

_~Keeper 113, subject designate Wade Wilson XS303-Omega.  Subject does not exist at Point of Operation.~_

“Trace Node.”

The blue thread redirects far out of her simulation scope.

_~Node 082, Archimedes, non-sentient.  Unlocked, active.  Queries pending.~_

“Show pending queries.”

_~Query:  Location nearest unlocked Node.  Query:  Location nearest high-clearance agent.  Query:  Location nearest lateral-capable Keeper.  Query:  Clarify Auditor.~_

She feels the breath rush out of her.  Only an unauthorized user would ask those kinds of questions.  “Shit,” she says.  “ _Shit_.”

“What’s up, Nat?”

“In the name of all things holy, Clint, will you _go bother Steph and Tony_?!”

She barely even remembers how to file a report for a stolen Node, and she has never had to file a report for a missing Keeper.

With anxious speed, she scrolls through the list of forms (the motion is something quite like winding yarn with both hands).

“How is it even possible to miss something like this?” she wonders aloud, and finally gives up on the proper reports in favor of punching up a security breach report instead.  “Who the hell was supposed to be watching One-Thirteen?”

“The Keeper?” Clint asks.  “Or the Node?”

“Keeper.”

“Oh, he’s one of Luke’s.  But you know how he hates Wades, so I honestly wouldn’t be that surprised if the poor dumbass got run over by a train without a single flag raised.”

Angry and disgusted, Natalie files a full misconduct report in record time.

An alarm goes off overhead; she logs out and pulls the simulation visor away from her face.

“Um, has this ever happened before?” Clint asks, staring up at the ceiling.

_~Attention Network Analysts:  the following Nodes have unexpectedly ceased information upload.  Node 003 Lachesis, Node 007 Prophet, Node 019 Hyperion, Node 020 Helios, Node 033 Pacifica, Node 053 Genesis, Node 054 Nihilus, Node 077 Oracle, Node 082 Archimedes, Node 105 Cleo, Node 142 Anubis, Node 143 Amaterasu, Node 157 Djinn, Node 189 Pele, Node 199 Titan, Node 201 Janus.~_

“That’s a lotta Nodes,” Clint says unnecessarily.

“Sixteen,” Natalie agrees.

_~Additionally, Node 098 Ragnarok will be in receive-only mode until further notice.  Additionally, the hyperbolic chronometric wavelength of Keeper 075 has phase-leveled; Wade Wilson BT562 has been appointed Keeper 188 to replace Keeper 075 as custodian of Node 119 Forecaster.  Additionally, the hyperbolic chronometric wavelength of Keeper 176 has phase-leveled; Steve Rogers HG552 has been appointed Keeper 189 to replace Keeper 176 as custodian of Node 061 Freyr.  That is all.~_

Swift footsteps echo in the corridor.  Emma and Carol open the door.

“You hear that, Nat?”

Clint points.  “Hear it?  I think she _found_ it.”

Natalie sighs.  “I saw a weird ripple, so I traced down to Keeper One-Thirteen and got a read error.  Turns out he’s been erased, and somebody else has been using his Node to send queries.  If Luke would just get over this thing he has against Wades, he would’ve seen it ages ago.  I mean, _sixteen Nodes_?  Clearly someone’s out there stealing them.”

“Jessica is going to yell herself hoarse,” snickers Emma.

“But that’s good, right?” says Carol.  “The more he surrounds himself with Nodes, the more his own resonance phase solidifies…then all we have to do is send an Agent to re-tune him and _bam_ , it carries all the way across and every iteration of him flatlines out of the timestream.”

“Whoever this is, he has obviously re-tuned several Keepers,” Emma argues.  “Do we _have_ anyone capable of taking down someone like that?”

Clint shrugs.  “Maybe the Auditor?  Or one of the Hope designations?  I mean…they were basically designed as resonant stabilizers.”

The door hisses open again.

Stephanie stands there with that determined look that she gets.  “You can all stop conjecturing.  Forecaster finally pinned down The Traveler and has made him capable of timesliding.  We’ve got them working on the problem.”

“Who the hell is The Traveler?” Carol asks, unimpressed.

Natalie shakes her head in shock.  “Um.  The primary resonant locus in my segment.  Wade Wilson BT562, one of the new Keepers.  I don’t remember the full brief, but he’s been uncontrollably brainsliding for a while now—totaling up to something like four hundred and thirty years of miscellaneous life experience.  He’s got more than enough cobbled-together firsthand knowledge to be a re-tuner.”

Stephanie nods.  “And of all Wade Wilson designations, he’s the second-hardest to kill.”

They stand in stunned silence for a moment.

“Holy shit,” Clint finally says.

“Language, young man,” Stephanie chides.

“Holy _stuff_.  Wades are hard to kill, that’s half the _point_.  This one’s _especially_ hard to kill?  That’s downright scary.”

“It may be scary, but it’s going to erase this Node-hunter and get us back our missing Nodes.”

Natalie shakes her head again.  “Steph, I don’t know about this…  We’re just dropping the fate of the multiverse on this guy?  We’re not even sending him any backup?  Do we at least have a Plan B?”

“Plan B involves displacing a Hope.  Sysadmin doesn’t want to do that if it can be avoided, because all the most powerful designations are busy.  If we extract the wrong one, her home branch could completely destabilize, so Plan B requires getting Oh-Five-Six in to examine the data and do a trace.”

The alarm goes off again.

“Second time in one day, and I’ve never even _heard_ that thing before,” Clint mutters.

_~Security breach reported at Network Branch Complex in bundle 33701-505.  The hyperbolic chronometric wavelength of Keeper 077 has phase-leveled; Hope Summers AR553 has been appointed Keeper 190 to replace Keeper 077 as custodian of Node 218 Kali.~_

Natalie feels a sudden chill, and her hands start to shake.  The words echo in her mind:  _Keeper 077 has phase-leveled_.

The Auditor is dead.

“The Auditor was re-tuned?” whispers Carol.

“We are so completely fu—”

“ _Clint_!”

“Sorry, Steph.  But we are.  Is this still Plan A, or does having a Hope for the new Auditor make it Plan B?”

 

**.End.**


End file.
